Beastmaster of the Ages

”As I thought, it’s different from the bottomless pits on the Welkin plane.” The bottomless pits were channels between the realm of order and chaos. Dug by the ancestors of the Lin Clan, this hole was a channel leading to the world down under. The further down he went, the more violent the nova source was.

Tianming had originally assumed that the world down under would be quiet, but in fact, it was the opposite. When he reached a certain depth, the entire world around him was filled with all kinds of thunderous noises. It was like the end of the world had come, with strong earthquakes, fiery magma, cold fog, violent storms, crashing thunder, and other such treacherous conditions. The deafening sounds existed all the time. In such an environment, one would have to speak as loud as Lan Huang to communicate normally.

”It’s so noisy down here, but the surface of Ebonia is very calm. How’s that possible?” Tianming was amazed. He knew that if he went deeper, he would eventually reach Ebonia’s fusion formation, and after passing through that, he would reach the nova source’s inner core. With his strength, it would be impossible to bore all the way down into the fusion formation, though; the soil layer was too thick. The nova wildbeasts also grew stronger the closer one came to the fusion formation. Billions of them formed packs comparable to the size of the Swordgod Lin Clan. Even though they weren’t intelligent and lacked a caelum, terra, and vita, they had their own social hierarchy once they grew stronger, and there were enough of them. There was no doubt that the strong dominated the weak.

”They don’t attack the surface and humans on the surface don’t go down. That balance has been maintained for a hundred million years.” Tianming gazed deeper with his three eyes. Although the surrounding nova source was extremely violent, he was still outside the fusion formation and could still bear it. As he passed through the underground magma and abyss lightning, he occasionally saw other Lin Clan disciples, but he didn’t approach them. Everyone was busy looking for the ancestral guidance steles.

”There’s battle arts that’re stronger than fullstella battle arts in the Cinasthana Section, so I don’t have to leave.” Aside from the ancestral guidance steles, there were many marvelous ancient remnants in the Swordsoul Purgatory, though they were unlikely to appear in the Cinasthana Section, which was the upper layer of the area. Protected by layers of formations, the Cinasthana Section was the safest.

Tianming glanced at the Swordsoul Bracelet on his right arm. He knew that it was also an eye, and from outside in the Swordsoul Chamber, many people were watching him through it. He thought it was pointless. Dispelling his apprehensions, he sped up, sinking into the depths of the Cinasthana Section.

”Ying Huo and the others are sleeping and Ling’er’s cultivating. I’m really all alone now. It’s so boring!” From the day Ying Huo had hatched, it had never left Tianming and he wasn’t used to the silence, even if he had only spent a short period without the perverted bird’s chatter. But his fighting spirit only grew because of the boredom. Circulating his astralforce and enveloping his body with it, Tianming bravely dived down.

”I could get Fifth to spread everywhere if it was here. Nothing would escape its eyes.” He had to admit, he missed the days when his lifebound beasts could flaunt their might.

......

Time quickly passed and two days flew by in the blink of an eye. Tianming had yet to encounter an ancestral guidance stele or any nova wildbeasts. However, he had met quite a few Lin Clan disciples. They were in small groups of three or four and looked out for one another. He could tell at a glance that they didn’t like him, so he didn’t approach them. Even if he had performed well in the Prime Myriadsword Corporation, in the eyes of most Lin Clan children, he was still an outcast that wasn’t worth their attention.

”Hmm.…” As soon as Tianming entered a sea of magma formed of fire-type nova source, he sensed movement underwater. It didn’t seem to be man-made, but was probably caused by some kind of beast. ”I’m sure of it. Only a wildbeast could possess such a fierce aura.” Slaying wildbeasts in the Swordsoul Purgatory could gain him merit points. The Swordsoul Bracelet was bound to the Clan Registry Formation and could automatically record his kills, which would save him a lot of trouble. Ling’er loved spending money. When Tianming looked at the nova wildbeast, it was like he was seeing merit points.

”Get it!”

Drawing the Grand-Orient Sword, Tianming slammed into the magma and the beast immediately noticed his presence. Magma bubbled and boiled as fiery waves erupted, sweeping toward him. Rocks that had been burned for so long they’d been turned into ores fell into the waves. In the sea of flames, a gigantic ten-thousand-meter-long monster burst out.

”A snake?” Tianming had thought it was a snake, but upon closer inspection, he realized that it looked like an earthworm.

”Gross!” It was a scarlet earthworm that smelled foul. It didn’t have eyes or a nose, only a mouth filled with tentacles on its front and back ends. Those tentacles resembled human hands, so it almost seemed like countless people were waving at him. Just looking at it made his scalp tingle.

”It’s a nova wildbeast!” Although it wasn’t as strong as Skywolf Frost’s voidheart worm, it was still stronger than the one in the Sky Palace Formation. It had been nourished by Ebonia’s nova source for generations. Although it could only transform nova source into low-level power, it had accumulated enough of it over the years to make it terrifying. It also possessed natural abilities.

”Mmm... die... eat... eat you!” The sound came from its bestia. It seemed that this earthworm wasn’t as smart as the voidheart worms, which were probably raised due to their intelligence.

The tentacles in the earthworm’s mouth reached for Tianming.

”Come on!” Burning with excitement, Tianming held his sword in both hands and slashed at the beast. The Flint Infernal Impulse condensed into a thousand-meter-long sword storm that fell from the top of the beast’s head. In an instant, its head was severed and blood spurted like a fountain.

”Done!” the satisfied Tianming shouted, waiting to reap his first merit points. But to his surprise, flesh began to grow from the beast’s wound, forming a new head and tentacles.

”What the hell?” He was upset, but the earthworm was even angrier.

”Die... eat you... eat you!” With an ear-piercing roar, the beast rolled around in the boiling magma, causing the earth to split. At the same time, a terrifying force emanated from its body as it burst into a dazzling red light. It was like there was magma coursing through its body.

”Wait, isn’t that like a cosmic impulse?” Nova wildbeasts possess the power of cosmic impulses?!